Rest Now My Pirate
by Xydonia
Summary: Set after AWE. Elizabeth is enjoying life aboard the Black Pearl, when Jack has an accident. Will anything blossom between the two while Elizabeth nurses him back to health?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Rest Now My Pirate

**Rating:** PG (T for later chapters)

**Pairing:** Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann

**Disclaimer:** Disney owns all the characters, except Goldberg, who I will introduce more next chapter.

**A/N:** Elizabeth is aboard the Black Pearl with Jack, when he has an accident.

--

'Fire!' All that could be heard was the deafening sound of cannons. The incessant ricochet as the cannon balls shredded through the wood of the two opposing ships. Tiny pieces settling on the surface of the sea as the waves lashed out and became persistent.

'Retreat! There's nothin' more that can be done! We got what we came for...' The sentence cut off, and a small gasp of pain was let out, body and sword slowly crumpling to the ground. A fierce burning sensation took over, piercing through linen and skin. A slight turn of the head and a small glance at the metal bullet protruding the shoulder. Face down onto the deck, eyes closing and pure pain seething through him.

He heard a scream and felt a presence hovering over his body. A soft voice and a soft palm resting on the small of his back. An all too familiar voice, it seemed.

'Jack... Jack, can you hear me?' The voice seemed to continue, repeating over and over, until he could not hear it any longer. He could not hear anything. Dropping into unconsciousness.

--

'How long has he been out of it? It must've been... five hours now?'

'Aye Miss Elizabeth, but he's had a nasty shock... taking a bullet to the shoulder... he's bound to be out for a while longer yet.'

Elizabeth gazed down at Jack's face, and smiled ever so slightly. There was no emotion shown in his features whatsoever. Why would there be? He was, after all, unconscious. She never even considered this could be a problem. Jack Sparrow never got hurt, and if he did he'd stand up, joke it off and stitch himself up in the dingy little room he called his cabin.

Jack thought he heard muffled conversation, which sounded like Elizabeth... and Gibbs? A small jolt in his shoulder reminded him of where he probably was now, and what had happened. That bastard, Goldberg had shot him. Had actually aimed, fired and shot him. This didn't tend to happen a lot; he'd always manage to stay out of the way. Either that, or miraculously dodge any object intended to hit him. His eyelids slowly flickered open and he caught Elizabeth's gentle gaze.

She gave a small sigh of relief and brushed his cheek with her fingertips. 'Thank heavens you're okay... we were all worried sick Jack.'

He gave a small murmur and spoke quietly, clearing his throat. 'No need to worry about me love, m'Captain Jack...'

'Sparrow. Yes, I know.' She rolled her eyes slightly, and glanced at Gibbs. 'Mr Gibbs, could you fetch Jack some water please?'

'No water... I'm in need of something a little stronger, what with this...' He gave a small nod to his wound, but received a shake of the head from Elizabeth.

She turned back to Gibbs who was now hovering in the door way. 'Just the water.' She mouthed back to him, watching him shut the cabin door firmly behind him. She looked back down at Jack. 'Now, the only thing we'll be using the rum for is to clean out that wound of yours.'

He cocked an eyebrow up slowly and pulled a face. 'I'll not have you wasting the rum now Lizzie...' He began to sit up, but she stopped him from anymore movement with her hand on his chest, leaning him back down.

'Lay back down Jack. You need to rest.'

Jack reluctantly placed his head down into his pillow and gave a little frown. 'I've had worse than this love, believe me... you've heard me stories before and...' He was stopped, her finger gently pressed against his lips.

'What did I just say?' She paused, waiting for an answer from him. 'Rest is the only thing you need right now. There will be no talking your way out of this with bizarre stories and clever mind games to distract me. For once, just let me help. I know what I'm doing.' She gave him a reassuring smile, and stood up from the edge of the bed.

He let out a sigh and closed his eyes briefly, his breathing slow and steady now. 'Very well.' There was a short pause, and he opened his eyes to look up at her figure, now reaching for the door handle. 'Lizzie?'

She turned her gaze back to him. 'Yes Jack?'

'Couldn't you stretch to just one bottle of rum? I mean, I could be a dying man here... and you're going to ignore my last wish for a bit of booze?' He grinned mischievously.

She gave a little smirk. 'I'll be back later to check on you. For now, get some rest.' She turned the handle on the door, and with that she was gone. He heard the familiar click as the door closed, and slowly closed his eyes once more, letting himself drift into a peaceful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Rest Now My Pirate

**Rating:** PG (T for later chapters)

**Pairing:** Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann

**Disclaimer:** Disney owns all the characters, unfortunately.

--

**Chapter Two**

Jack's eyelids slowly flickered open as he tried to focus his vision on where exactly he was. The events of the day before very quickly came flooding back to him and he let out a small sigh, turning his head to look at his wound. He licked his dry lips slowly and made a face of revulsion to himself. 'Bloody stupid bastard, with his bloody stupid gun...' He mumbled under his breath and looked up as he heard the cabin door creak.

Elizabeth poked her head around the side of the door and gave a soft smile as she saw him awake at last. She opened the door fully and stepped inside, shutting it behind her. 'You've been sleeping a long time. I came in a few times to clean and bandage you up, but I didn't want to wake you.' She told him as she made her way over to the bed.

He made a poor attempt to sit up as she came closer, but she stopped him yet again, causing him to lie back once more. 'Clean me up eh? I must say Elizabeth, I haven't taken a bath in a very long time... but I suppose if a ravishing, young lady, such as yourself, were to offer her assistance, I might be persuaded.' He flashed a wide grin up at her, and saw her roll her eyes briefly.

'I meant clean the wound Jack. I wouldn't attempt to clean that filth from you, even if you paid me.' She laughed softly, which had recently become one of Jack's favourite things to hear.

'That so?' He took a quick look down at his bare arms and smirked. 'There's not that much "filth", as you so kindly put it... just needs a bit of scrubbin', that's all.'

'I'll leave that job for you to look forward to...' She smiled. 'After you've recovered anyway. For the moment, you're not leaving this bed.' She slowly pulled something from behind her back and watched as Jack's eyes lit up.

Rum.

Jack grinned devilishly. 'I knew you wouldn't let me down love.' He reached his arm out in an attempt to snatch it from her grip, but she moved it up and out of his range. 'C'mon Lizzie, this isn't a game now. I'm a desperate man, in need of a drink.'

'Turn onto your side.'

He raised both his eyebrows slowly. 'Onto me side? Now why would I want to do such a thing?'

'Do it and I'll give you some rum.'

Jack gave a little smirk and did exactly as she'd asked. He rolled himself onto his side, his left and injured shoulder now up from the bed and facing her directly. She pulled a piece of cloth from her coat pocket and poured some of the rum onto it. She took a few short moments to study the wound, biting her lip slightly. It looked extremely painful, and she couldn't imagine the kinds of pain he was masking from her right now. She gently dabbed the cloth against his wound, receiving a cry of pain from Jack.

'Damn and blast!' She heard him take a sharp intake of breath, and she felt herself wince slightly just from this one reaction. 'Are you trying to kill me Lizzie-girl?!'

'I'm sorry Jack, but I can't let it get infected. It'll be a lot more painful if it does... the rum will help with that.' She smiled sympathetically, even though he couldn't see, and continued to clean the wound. 'You know...' She started. 'We removed the bullet yesterday, when you were a bit out-of-it, shall we say.' A pause. 'It was pretty far in, so let's be thankful it's not still in there.'

'We removed the bullet? "We" being whom exactly?' He questioned, beginning to get used to the stinging that the rum was causing. He never ever imagined rum could give him this much pain.

'Well...' Elizabeth made a short pause once more. 'Me, I suppose.' She felt her cheeks flush slightly, trying to keep herself busy with her hands against his shoulder.

'I thought as much. Me crew are useless when it comes to that.' He smirked slightly, remembering a string of previous injuries he had sustained, that he had dealt with himself. 'Just being modest as always then eh love?' Jack grinned to himself. 'Modesty will get you nowhere my dear. S'best to take credit for the actions you take. If you don't... there's no glory afterwards, no reward to be received, no recollection by anybody of what great wonders you may have accomplished'.

Elizabeth smiled, settling the cloth down on the side table. 'Are you quite finished?'

Jack looked as if he was considering this for a moment, before nodding slightly. 'Aye love, I'm done.'

'What I did was a pure act of decency. Anybody would have performed it for their Captain. There is nothing about modesty here, just something called selflessness. I did it because you were in pain, which is not something I like to see I'll have you know...'

'And you know if it were the other way round darlin', I would've been there for yer in a shot.' He grinned slightly.

'Hmm, clever choice of words there Captain.'

'Aye, I thought so. May I turn back over? Can't see yer pretty face from here...' He gave a small chuckle.

'I just need to bandage you up, and then you're free to move wherever you like...' She studied her words. 'As long as you stay in this bed.' She finished, flashing a grin of her own.

'That statement was extremely misleading you know...' He gave another small grimace as she slowly began to wrap the bandage around his wound. She watched his shoulders tense and relax ever so quickly at the touch of her fingers. His breathing began to even out and she felt her fingers tremble ever so slightly against his bare skin.

The corners of Jack's lips began to curl up into a smile. 'Steady there darlin'.

Elizabeth finished the dressing of his wound with a single knot, and she brushed her fingertips gently down his back. 'There. All done.' She smiled softly.

Jack shifted himself on the bed and rolled onto his back once more, looking up at her admirably. He flashed a cheeky grin up at her, and watched as she bit her lip cutely.

'I better go and check on your crew... they're very concerned about their poor Captain.' She moved from the edge of the bed and stood up. 'I'll come back in a little while, to check on you.'

'Love, I don't need being checked on...' He grinned.

She smirked a little, walking over to the door. She turned the handle and opened it slowly, peering back at him slightly before leaving the cabin once again.

Jack kept his gaze on her until the door closed fully. He gave a brief smile to himself, but slowly started to grin widely as he caught sight of the small side table next to the bed.

Elizabeth leant against the outside of the cabin door, smiling gently as she heard his muffled cry of delight.

She had left the rum.


End file.
